Month January 2023

Well, that’s not a melodramatic title. But I have been fumbling as an author. Mind you, I haven’t fumbled the third book in my Guardians of the Fey trilogy. I have been working on the book consistently, but more on that in a moment. Where I have been tripping up is with the “other stuff”.

As a modern-day indie author, there are many things I am supposed to do beyond writing my books. I am meant to have an “author platform” and to build an email list of fans who will love my writing. Then there’s social media where I should be posting consistently so more potential readers will find my books. Frankly, so far, I suck at this part of being a writer.

I do have an email list, all lovely people who have supported me and my books with their time and energy, and I have certainly dropped the ball on emailing these wonderful folks. I have had a difficult time figuring out what to say in an email to my readers. How many ways are there to say, “Still working on it. Turned out to be trick-sier than I thought”?

But, with a New Year’s resolution turned plan, I intend to be more supportive of my readers this year. I will be reaching out to my list at least once a month. I owe my readers that for their interest in my worlds. Luckily, I have a decent track record with NY resolutions, so I am confident I will follow through.

While ruminating about having let my readers down, I finally figured out why I have struggled so much with my third book.

I have not had writer’s block, rather, I have struggled with too many subplots and waffle-y story-lines. I thought it was just overzealousness since this is the final book. My desire to use every idea I’d ever had did come into play. However, it finally struck me that the real problem I had was trying to second-guess what my readers might want to happen.

One day, some time back, one of my readers gave me a lovely compliment about one of my characters. This reader then expressed their desire for that character’s story-line to go in a specific direction. But that was not where the dude was headed.

What if I was wrong? What if dude should go that way? And my monkey mind was off to the races. No character’s story arc was safe from my “what ifs?”.

So in went every plot line ever, plus the kitchen sink. The first draft was a bloated, long overdue mess and I admit to a certain sense of despair as I read my words. So…many…words…

The surgery is ongoing in the second draft, and I am hopeful of success. I have accepted my readers might not prefer some or all of the directions my stories go, but ultimately it’s kind of up to the characters where they end up—well, with a nudge or two from me.